By Jamie Douglas I write this article with a heavy heart, because Fiji has been a large part of my life, my love for the South Pacific Islands and its wonderful peoples with all their age-old traditions and melodic music is strong. You, too, can get a taste of Fiji by checking out Jane Resture’s Pacific Islands Radio.
My history with Fiji goes back to 1956, when I was a wee lad of 9 years. My family was on an extended stay in Australia, where my father was officiating at the Olympic Games. After the games were over my father decided we should visit Fiji. My mother was fundamentally opposed to that excursion by reasons of bugs and tropical diseases, as was my older brother, who never really developed a sense of adventure. He was my mother’s son and I was my father’s. They stayed behind in Melbourne while we set off on my first ever South Pacific adventure.
We ended up exploring the two largest islands in the archipelago, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, staying in dilapidated old colonial hotels as well as a couple of stays in native villages. The memories of that trip are as fresh as if it was yesterday. Friendly faces everywhere, ample parking day and night, and everyone greeting us with big smiles and a hearty “Bula,” the Fijian version of “Howdy neighbor!”
Fiji was my prime motivation for seeking out that kind of lifestyle, when I started nomading in the tropics, from the Caribbean to Central and South America, finally ending up on Maui in 1976, where I fell right into the "Island Way of Life", but it was not until the mid 1980s when one morning I was reading the Honolulu Advertiser that I was drawn in by an article stating that Continental Airlines was offering $99 roundtrip introductory fares from Honolulu to Fiji. I put the paper down and called Continental, immediately booking my flight. Over the next few days I excitedly told all my friends, and not many were able to resist the lure of this low fare. For a small additional fee, we were able to book a room at the Hilton Hotel on the Coral Coast, from where I rented a car and set out to explore the island. Everything was as I remembered, but with a little more comfort, and a great time was had by all. I subsequently spent almost three years living and working in Fiji, from the main island to Koro Island, Taveuni, and several of the smaller islands.
While on Taveuni working on a film in May 1987, this peaceful Island Paradise was suddenly thrown into utter chaos, with drunken soldiers invading our set, shooting into the ceiling of the restaurant and looting the bar, all the while terrorizing all of us guests with their old Enfield rifles and very modern American made M-16 assault rifles. I will not go too deeply into the entire motive for the coup, other than to say that the military was urging all foreigners, and that included the native born Indo-Fijians, to immediately leave the islands and to never come back.
There followed another military coup in September, which made things even harder for the already oppressed Indo-Fijian majority. Homes and businesses were torched, with the ethnic Fijian fire brigade moving in promptly, watering lawns and preventing the owners from salvaging what they could. What evolved over the next few years was a systematic denial by developers and those in the tourist industry that anything was wrong in Fiji.
The formerly peaceful member of the British Commonwealth had built up an army way out of proportion to its size, getting the most modern arms because they contracted themselves out to the United Nations for peacekeeping duties, earning large sums of money for the homeland.
Meanwhile, this same military got so out of control that all citizens are in peril, and the government has become nothing more than a thinly disguised military dictatorship. The Sydney Morning Herald has a great article on this topic, if you would like to learn more. Mind you, this is not just in the past. To check out what has been going on there very recently check out this blog, Fiji Today.
If after reading those two and following some other links you still want to go buy property in Fiji, and you go there and experience the situation first hand, you will also find that there is only a single digit percentage of land that is freehold.
It makes me very sad to say this, but my beloved Islands in the Sun have gone to hell in a sea of racism, oppression, and human rights violations. What can I say, but Bula Vinaka!
Jamie Douglas
San Rafael, Mendoza
Where the Malbec Wine is Always Fine!
(photo by Jamie Douglas)
I encourage you to write to me, jamie@expatdailynews.com with any questions or suggestions you may have, and if necessary, we can establish a voice communication via Skype. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel related business. My advice is based on my own experiences, and is free of charge. (Donations accepted). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.
Jamie Douglas is an Adventurer, Writer and Photographer with an amazing array of Nikon equipment, and a lifetime of experience traveling and documenting. To contact him for assignments, email: jamie.douglas [at] yahoo.com
See more expat articles by Jamie at
Expat Daily News Latin America.
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